Volquez has elbow tendinitis

The tests on RHP Edinson Volquez are back. He has right elbow tendinitis and won’t do any baseball activity for at least 7-10 days. The Reds will put him back on the 15-day disabled list and pending MLB approval, will recall reliever Jared Burton.

Manager Dusty Baker was more relieved that Volquez’s injury wasn’t worse than it was.

“It’s not bad news,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “It’s the best news it could be for bad news. There’s nothing structural or nothing in the joint.”

Volquez hadn’t pitched since May 16 because of mid-back spasms that put him on the DL for the firs time in his career. He threw in two side bullpen sessions while he was out and reported no arm trouble – before or after the back injury.

“He might have felt something and thought it might have been normal soreness or something,” Baker said. “If every time you felt something and you sat out, most of us would never play. He had never said anything to us about it.”

Baker held off making an announcement on who would replace Volquez in the rotation. His next turn would have been Saturday vs. the Cubs. At Louisville, lefty Matt Maloney pitched a three-hit shutout on Monday and is 4-3 with a 2.00 ERA through 10 starts. He would be able to pitch on his normal rest and it would be his big league debut.

The Reds could also opt to move Bronson Arroyo up and pitch him on three days rest. Homer Bailey, who came up for one unsuccessful start for the Reds already this season, is also pitching on Tuesday for Louisville.

What would you do if you were Baker and pitching coach Dick Pole?

It was raining cats and a dogs here at Busch Stadium but has stopped and became a pretty nice evening. Before I left for the ballpark, the hotel across the street from mine suffered wind damage and I heard a chunk of the building fell to the street. I don’t think anyone was hurt but there were a lot of fire trucks and TV vans. And the Starbucks awning at the side of my hotel was on the ground near the lobby entrance area because it fell off. Hopefully this all blows through so this game starts on time.

Edwin Encarnacion took batting practice on Monday for the first time since going on the DL April 28 with a chip fracture in his left wrist. Encarnacion also took BP indoors on Tuesday while it rained. Before hitting on Tuesday, Encarnacion still reported no pain from the Monday session.

“The next couple of days, we’ll see whether I can go play and what they’re going to do,” Encarnacion said. “They have to wait until I am between 90-100 percent and then I will go play somewhere.”

IF/OF Jerry Hairston was given another day off after being sick on Monday. Hairston thought his stomach illness may have been caused by food poisoning.

Minor League info:

1B Yonder Alonso had a nice first game at Double-A Carolina. He was 3-for-4 with two doubles a walk, two runs scored and three RBIs. Meanwhile, OF Chris Heisey continued his season-long tear by going 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. Heisey has a 10-game hitting streak, and a four-game streak of at least three hits.

Public service announcement from the Reds:

Friday night, the Cincinnati Police Department is expecting a crowd of about 50,000 to attend both the Reds’ 7:10 p.m. game with the Cubs and a sold-out Keith Urban concert next door at US Bank Arena…the CPD recommends fans who don’t have passes for the parking garages adjacent to those venues avoid driving on Second and Third Streets and instead use exits into the northern part of downtown (5th Street, 6th Street, 7th Street, Gilbert Road, Reading Road, etc.).

I would have to say it isn’t going to hurt anything to see Maloney get a shot at the show. Bailey has had several chances and just doesn’t look ready. Age wise isn’t Maloney a year older than Bailey. Maloney certainly pitches with a little bit of maturity.

On another note. Encarnacion. I don’t want to disrespect the many but I think it is time for the Reds to start looking at parting ways with this injury prone over achiever. I think that the Reds have seen the best days out of him as it is. The Cardinals are in need of a third basemen maybe we could get another couple of A ball middle infielders in return.

Because his defense is too good to do without. You think many others would have got to a couple of those balls last night. My question on top of your question is why didn’t Gonzalez try bunting before the GIDP? I’ll be curious to find that out.

I understand about the attraction of Gonzalez for his glove but with Votto out of the lineup our best hitter avg wise is our backup catcher who is hitting .324 and the next batter to that is what .280?
I think we should be willing to sacrifice some range at defense for someone who can hit close to .300. The way Gonzalez is going they are going to have to rename the Mendoza line in his name if he doesn’t start hitting.

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